Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has called for the Trump administration to end negotiations with Iran and bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
“Waste that shit,” Fetterman told The Washington Free Beacon in an interview published on Wednesday. “You’re never going to be able to negotiate with that kind of regime that has been destabilizing the region for decades already, and now we have an incredible window, I believe, to do that, to strike and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
The hawkish comments come a few weeks after US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that there’s no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
Fetterman also downplayed the risk of a strike on Iran turning into a regional war, even though Iranian missiles could reach many US military bases in the region and cause thousands of American casualties.
The Pennsylvania senator, who is extremely pro-Israel, also expressed support for Israel blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza amid warnings that Palestinian children in the besieged territory are starving.
In a post on X responding to European countries calling Israel’s blockade “intolerable,” Fetterman said, “What’s truly intolerable? Innocent civilians held in tunnels for 565 days and counting. European allies should demand the elimination of Hamas and for the release of all remaining hostages. These actions would quickly end the suffering in Gaza.”
Since entering the Senate in 2023, Fetterman has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times. When Fetterman visited Israel last year, Netanyahu told him that Israel “has had no better friend than Sen. John Fetterman.”
The Intercept reported in February that many Fetterman staffers were quitting due to the focus on Israel. One former staffer said people were “probably frustrated that working in the Fetterman office means you’re just working on Israel all the time.”
